


machiavellian

by Nivena



Series: narratives of villainy [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (at least allusions towards it), 2nd Person, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Fear Play, Gang Rape, Gen, Genital Mutilation, Genital Torture, Knifeplay, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Ozai's A+ Parenting, Power Dynamics, Rape/Non-con Elements, but still, it's not described or anything, political machinations, this got really fucked up really fast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-06-10 03:35:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6938110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nivena/pseuds/Nivena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You are Azula. You are powerful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	machiavellian

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a long time since i watched avatar, but azula remains my favorite villain, like, ever.

i.

 

You are young. Like most young people, you think yourself invincible. Unlike the others, you are. You go through tutors faster than your brother gets through his dinner. You wonder why nobody likes you.

 

ii.

 

You are a year older now. You realize that your mother's approval will never come. Instead, you turn to your father. You learn his ways.

 

Your mother was loved. Your father, feared.

 

iii.

 

Your skill in firebending is inversely proportionate to Zuko's. The greater you are, the lesser he is. You take advantage. You get better, you distinguish yourself, and you ignore the disapproving looks of your mother. She never loved you anyways. That was smart of her.

 

iv.

 

You learn quick. You take to backing your father, slowly weaning support in the court off of your foolish uncle. You have never had an allegiance to your father, but how else will you take your rightful throne?

 

You grow, you learn, and you put on a performance to end all before. Your brother is a mere shadow compared to your flame.

 

You are careful. You are not loved, but perhaps you will be feared. And what exactly, is the difference?

 

Ursa is gone.

 

v.

 

Your father, atop his throne, takes you under his wing. He teaches the greatest lesson of all to you, one you have known since the start.

 

He gathers the most honest men in the kingdom, with the most upright morals. He locks them in a dark room with you. And then he tells them to rape you, or be burnt to death.

 

And so, their fear for their life outweighs their love for humanity. They give up everything at your father's very command.

First, you cry. Then, you struggle. Then, you begin to laugh.

 

Oh, your father will pay for this.

 

vi.

 

Your brother has fallen out of favor. He is banished, along with your foolish and weak-willed uncle. Left to an endless task, to find the missing Avatar. It is too bad, you think, that he never learned quite as quickly as you did.

 

vii.

 

Mai and Ty Lee have loyalty to you. That is not enough, it will never be enough. You have loyalty to your father, and you are acutely aware of how quickly you would kill him if you had the chance.

 

No, loyalty is not enough.

 

It starts out small, burns on their feet, unnoticeable but constant. Still, there is resolve in them.

 

You cut notches in their ears, cauterized with lightning and fire. You give a knife to one, and force the other to cut and pull at the skin on their arms. The scars form like ladders up their wrists.

 

It's not enough, they don't fear you enough.

 

Finally, you hand Ty Lee a knife. You recall that knife belonging to Zuko, once. It is small, blunt, meant for cutting fruit. Mai trembles, but she removes her clothes nonetheless.

 

She is forced to cut off a lot more than fruit.

 

viii.

 

You meet your brother again, and he has earned the loyalty of those around him. Pathetic. He still does not understand true power, and seeks only love.

 

You know the fear in their eyes, the submission after their clothes have been torn off and they have been violated at their deepest level.

 

That is power.

 

ix.

 

The Avatar himself loves. He is the antithesis of everything you've ever worked for. He's everything your mother and brother represent. He can not be the most powerful being in the world, when espousing principles so fundamentally weak.

 

And then, the unthinkable happens. You are betrayed, by the girls you have so thoroughly broken. Who proclaim that their love is more powerful than their fear. You are betrayed, by every lesson your father taught you, by every trauma you have suffered, by the very army you have built.

 

x.

 

Your name is Azula. You are weak.


End file.
